


the naming of cats

by the24thkey writes (the24thkey)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 5 Things, Cats, Familiars, Gen, M/M, Minho is not very good at being a witch, Urban Fantasy, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22700587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the24thkey/pseuds/the24thkey%20writes
Summary: The question should perhaps be: what can I do for you,the cat says, stretching lazily.I'm here to offer you a contract."A contract?" Minho repeats, confused. Is this cat trying to sell him something? He's never seen a magical cat salesperson before, but he supposes there's a first time for everything.---Minho and his familiars, a story in 5 parts.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 134





	the naming of cats

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic is from the T.S. Eliot poem of the same name, brought to you by me literally just googling poems about cats once it was time to think of a title.
> 
> With thanks to idella for being the actual best and beta reading this for me, and to Lee Minho for all that quality content he posts on instagram. Looking forward to the day he follows his true calling and opens an account just for his cats.

1\. Soonie

The thing is, Minho doesn't come from a family of witches. 

He has a coven, more by accident than anything, but it's a mismatched group of various supernatural beings and two fledgling practitioners, because their leader has a bleeding heart and a habit of picking up strays. 

(Hah, get it? Bleeding heart? Because Chan is a vampire? But Minho digresses.)

There is the High Order, and a whole network of witches that would be happy to answer any questions Minho asks, and probably thousands more that he didn’t, but that’s not really Minho’s style.

“Hyung, I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to do that,” Seungmin, who actually does study under a member of the High Order, says with obvious concern as he watches Minho throw ingredients into his cauldron. 

“Says you,” Minho retorts, unbothered, and throws more cicada shells into the steaming sludge. It produces a plume of foul smoke, and part of Minho concedes that maybe, just maybe, sticking closer to the book might have been a good idea. But it’s not like he can back down now.

So that’s how Minho ends up blowing up his cauldron. His kitchen survives, and the only injury Minho sustains is the blow to his pride when Seungmin says _I told you so_. Still, he has to walk into town to see about getting his cauldron replaced, or maybe just getting a really large pot. That should work just as well, right?

He never makes it to the shop though. He doesn’t even make it into town, because his path is blocked by an absolute beauty.

It’s a tabby cat, sprawled out in a patch of late afternoon sun, big, unblinking eyes staring straight at Minho. 

“Hey there,” Minho says quietly, crouching down slowly, ready to reach out one hand if she’ll let him.

_Hello, Lee Minho_ , says the cat.

Minho doesn’t scream. He doesn’t jump or lose his balance or fall flat on his ass. Minho just blinks, once, twice, and then he very calmly reaches for his phone and makes a call.

He doesn’t have to wait long for it to go through, and then Jisung’s familiar, annoyed voice filters in.

“Hyung, I swear, if you’re calling because I didn’t reply to your texts when I am clearly at work—”

“Sungie,” Minho interrupts him, voice hushed, hand raised to cover his mouth. “There’s a cat.”

“O...kay?” Jisung replies. 

"It talked," Minho clarifies. "And it knows my name." His eyes never leave the cat, who stares right back at him, seemingly content to wait for his full attention. 

"Oh," Jisung says, unconcerned. "That's cool." 

Jisung is not a witch, but he is witch-adjacent — his half-brother is a practitioner — so he takes most of the weirdness that Minho throws at him in stride. 

"What does it want?" 

"Uuuuh," Minho says, "I'm not sure. It just said 'hello'." 

Jisung sighs, and even though Minho can't see him, he knows Jisung is rubbing his temples right now. 

"Then stop bothering me and go talk to it," he says, but there's an underlying fondness to the words. "I'll see you tonight."

The call clicks off before Minho can say anything else, and then it's just him and the cat and the quiet sounds of the forest around them. 

He's honestly kind of freaked out, and not quite sure how one approaches conversations like this, but luckily, the cat speaks first. 

_I've been waiting for you_ , she says. 

Minho's eyebrows shoot up. "Why?" he asks, and then clears his throat. "I mean, what can I do for you?" 

It's usually best to be polite when one encounters unknown creatures; you never know what might curse you otherwise. Hyunjin, one of the members of his coven, once learned that the hard way when he was turned into a llama. Minho is still making fun of him for it to this day. 

_The question should perhaps be: what can I do for you_ , the cat says, stretching lazily. _I'm here to offer you a contract._

"A contract?" Minho repeats, confused. Is this cat trying to sell him something? He's never seen a magical cat salesperson before, but he supposes there's a first time for everything. "I'm really not interested in buying anything, so if you'll excuse me—" 

_Child_ , the cat says, and it sounds somewhat exasperated. Minho gets that sometimes, when he meets new people. Creatures. Whatever. 

_Do you know what a familiar is?_

The word sounds, well, _familiar_ , and Minho thinks of Jisung's brother Younghyun and the fox that accompanies him wherever he goes. 

"A witch's companion," he says haltingly, like he's back in school and trying to bullshit his way through a test he hasn't studied for. "They, uh, help with magic and stuff?"

The cat wipes a paw over her face in a gesture that looks strangely human. 

_I suppose that's accurate enough. A familiar is bonded to a witch's soul. I offer you my power, my knowledge, and life-long companionship, in exchange for the same._

Now that he thinks about it, Minho does remember reading about this, and he's seen other witches with a variety of animals at their sides. There were never any instructions on how to acquire a familiar, however — the books always present it as something that just happened. 

"So you've been, what. Assigned to be my familiar?" 

_In a manner of speaking, and only if you accept,_ the cat says, eyeing him up and down. _You're older than I expected_. _Usually a familiar bond is formed by the 16th year._

"I came into my powers late," Minho says. 

In truth, while there had always been magic running through him just under the surface, he'd been desperate to suppress it, to write it off as childhood fancy, to live a normal life. There had been no one to explain to him that there wasn't anything wrong with him. 

'Coming into his powers', for Minho, had involved a lot more involuntary mayhem and destruction than it should have. He doesn't like to think about the way he lost control so completely. Then again, it did bring him to the attention of his coven, so he supposes it all worked out in the end. 

_These things happen_ , the cat says, and Minho is surprised to feel something like relief at the easy acceptance. _We meet when the Fates decide it is our time. Now go ahead. If you're willing, then it's time for us to make a contract._

Minho should probably be a lot more skeptical about this entire deal. You can't trust any random creature that comes up to you to have your best interest at heart, after all. Still, something about this just feels right, like he's been waiting for it without even knowing. Besides, he's always wanted a cat. 

"How do we do that?" Minho asks. 

_Give me a name_ , the cat says. 

Minho doesn't even have to think about it. "Soonie," he says immediately, and the moment he does he feels an intense flare of _something_ throughout his entire body, spreading out from the center of his chest, gone almost as soon as it came. All it leaves behind is a feeling of warmth where Minho hadn’t even realized he’d been cold. 

_I was hoping for something a bit more dignified_ , Soonie sighs. Minho has never heard a cat sigh before. It's kind of surreal. 

He can feel the barest hint of a touch to his mind. Nothing like telepathy or an intrusive mind-read. Just the soft, lingering awareness of another consciousness beside him, faint traces of emotions that don't override his own. 

Still, the newness of it is overwhelming. Minho sways a bit, barely catching himself on the ground with his hands because he's still crouched down. His stomach feels queasy, and he feels his magic rushing through his veins. 

_It would appear that I have my work cut out for me_ , Soonie says, stretching as she gets up. _Let's go home._

"Sure," Minho mumbles, his plans to go shopping forgotten, and he barely makes it back to the cottage before he passes out on the sofa. 

He wakes much later, when the sun has already set, and he winces a bit as he opens his eyes. He expects to feel groggy and worn-out, but instead, he feels well-rested and comfortable. And most importantly, his magic, usually as hard to control as it is unpredictable, seems almost calm. 

"Oh," Minho breathes out. There's a weight on him, and when he looks down he sees Soonie curled up on his chest, small body rising and falling with the movements of both of their breaths. 

He allows himself to relax back into the pillows then, savouring the peace and quiet. 

And when Jisung gets home that night and coos something about how Soonie is the prettiest, most wonderful kitty in the entire world, and Soonie suffers through his ear scratches with the air of someone making a great sacrifice, Minho thinks this whole familiar thing might just work out.

  
  
  
  
  


2\. Doongie

Doongie is a surprise. 

Minho is in the kitchen, trying to make a sleep draught — Soonie made him get a proper new cauldron, vetoing his alternative suggestions, and he figured this would be a good way to break it in. Especially since there's a coven meeting coming up at the end of the month. Fates know none of those insomniacs ever get enough rest.

Nothing is going right today, however. The colour of his first batch was completely off, and the second one isn't turning out much better.

He's cutting up some final ingredients when he catches a movement out of the corner of his eye. He considers ignoring it, but as reluctant as he is to ask for help, he just wants to get this over with. 

"Alright, I give up. Tell me what I'm doing wrong."

Distracted as he is, he doesn't realize that the tabby that just walked through the kitchen window and sat down on top of his open potions book isn't his familiar, and he almost drops his knife when he hears its voice. 

_You're slicing the willow bark too thin_ , the cat sniffs.

"You're not Soonie," Minho says dumbly, and gets an unimpressed look in return. 

_No shit_ , the cat says. 

Soonie herself slinks into the room then, hopping up on the counter and starting to clean herself like they don't have company. It's a power move. Minho respects that. 

There's an awkward moment of silence where nobody says anything, with Minho just kind of standing there, knife in hand, until Soonie finally takes pity on him. 

_Go on_ , she says, still contorted to try and reach her back. _Make a contract._

It takes Minho a second to get what she means, and then he finally puts the knife down and approaches the other cat. 

"Another one?" he asks, surprised but ready to roll with it. "Power, knowledge and all that?" 

He reaches out one hand, and the cat deigns to rub its face against it, and that's all Minho needs, really. What is he going to do, say no to having more cats? 

“Doongie,” Minho decides, and once again the warmth courses through his entire body, leaving his skin tingling. He lets out a shaky breath at the feeling of it, reaching for the counter to steady himself, but it's much less of a shock the second time around. 

He doesn't think he's going to pass out today, which is good for both his time-sensitive potion and his dignity. 

The new presence taking up residence in his mind projects something like affront. _What ever happened to the classics? Salem? Azazel?_

"Nope," Minho says. "Doongie."

Doongie makes a noise that is reminiscent of a sulking teenager, and Soonie starts grooming him, too. Minho is incredibly charmed. 

Of course, then Soonie has to ruin it by glancing at Minho's cutting board and saying, _That willow bark is too thin._

"I know," Minho gripes, glaring at her, and moves to start over. 

  
"Sooooo," Jisung says when he gets back from the studio that night, picking cat fur off his nice black coat. "Is this going to keep happening then?" 

Minho just shrugs. "Hell if I know."

"Cool," Jisung says, and goes to order more cat toys. 

  
  
  


3\. Dori

When Dori just appears one day, Minho doesn't even question it anymore. He suspects that Soonie is calling for backup against his more disastrous magical tendencies, but he can't prove shit. 

So Minho enters the contract and goes about his day, and nothing really changes except now there's a small blur of dark brown fur running around the house, annoying Doongie and knocking over Minho's only remaining bottle of sea water before he can use it for his current project. 

(And maybe he realizes later that he's supposed to use spring water, not sea water, but that's neither here nor there.) 

It doesn’t really occur to him how unusual this situation is until Younghyun stops by to drop off the leftovers he got saddled with when Jisung couldn't make it to dinner at their mother's place. 

From the sheer amount of food Mrs. Han cooks, you'd think she had 20 children to feed instead of just the two. Minho adores her. 

Jisung is out, unfortunately, and it's always a bit awkward when it's just the two of them. Not because they don't like each other or because Younghyun disapproves of Minho dating his brother. It's more that they don't really get each other. Not a lot of people get Minho, outside of Jisung and his coven. 

And Minho's familiars, of course. It's probably a given, by nature of their bonds, but it's still nice. They may occasionally annoy him and make fun of his more adventurous attempts at witchcraft, but they also offer him unconditional support. And he gets to pet them a lot. That's pretty nice, too. 

"You know," Younghyun says slowly, his eyes flickering between Soonie, Doongie and Dori. "This is really…quite unusual."

Minho blinks. "What."

"Well," Younghyun says, looking a bit uncomfortable. His fingers are carding through his familiar's fur where he's curled up in Younghyun's lap, big fox ears twitching even as his eyes are closed. "It's just that, traditionally, people only have one. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone with multiple familiars before.”

Minho isn’t quite sure how to respond to that. It’s not like it’s never occurred to him that having more than one familiar might not be the norm, but since Soonie never said anything about it, he figured it would be alright. Rare, maybe, but not unheard of. 

“They came to me on their own, to offer their contracts,” Minho says, frowning. “Nothing wrong with that, is there?”

“It’s just...” Younghyun says, and there’s a sinking feeling in Minho’s stomach at the uncertainty in his voice. “Even just one familiar places a certain strain on your soul. Have you been feeling alright? Tired? Drained?”

“No,” Minho answers truthfully. It’s the opposite, really. He’s never felt this calm and in control of his own energy, if he thinks back on the years since he first came into his powers. 

“Maybe you should consult someone in the Order,” Younghyun suggests. “Just in case. You can’t be careful enough about these things, yeah?”

“Maybe,” Minho says quietly, and Younghyun sighs.

“Just think about it.”

And Minho does think about it. In fact, he can’t seem to stop thinking about it, even when Younghyun is long gone. It’s an endless spiral of worry that he can’t seem to stop even when Doongie butts his head into Minho's chest and tells him to knock it off, or when Jisung tells him to ignore what other people say and just trust his instincts, trust his magic. 

_Your soul is fine_ , Soonie tells him, and Minho nods and changes the topic and pretends she can’t feel the constant simmer of anxiety at the back of his mind.

  
  
  


4\. Cheesecake

Minho really shouldn’t have given Jisung naming rights, because that’s how he ends up with Cheesecake.

“No,” Minho says. “Absolutely not.”

“But hyung,” Jisung whines, smooshing the cat’s cream-coloured cheeks, and Minho never really stood a chance. 

Cheesecake, newly named, gives him a long-suffering look. Minho can only hope that Seungmin never finds out about this.

So of course Seungmin shows up the very next day, because he lives to spite Minho. 

He's clearly not in a good mood, snippy and passive-aggressive from the moment he steps through the door. It's not the first time Minho has had to deal with Seungmin when he's like this, so he just shoves him into a chair at the kitchen table and moves to make some tea, idly talking about the latest antics of his familiars to fill the silence. 

"I thought you only had one," Seungmin mutters, and Minho, affronted, sets the teapot down with a clatter, turning around to look at him. 

"You what," Minho says flatly, pressing a hand to his chest. 

“One cat. Familiar. Whatever,” Seungmin says, waving dismissively. “When did you get the others?”

“I’ve had Doongie and Dori for weeks now,” Minho says. “I sent pictures to the group chat.”

“You send us cat pictures constantly,” Seungmin protests. “How am I supposed to know which one’s which? They’re the same colour!”

Minho points an accusing finger at Dori and Soonie, distinctly not the same colour, curled up on the window sill. 

"Well, some of them are," Seungmin amends, petulant. “And all of them are your familiars? That’s kinda weird, isn’t it?”

Minho doesn’t flinch, but he has to swallow around a sudden lump in his throat. The flashback to his conversation with Younghyun a week ago is unwelcome but inevitable. He’s tried not to think about it too much, and he knows neither Younghyun nor Seungmin would want to cause him distress, but he can’t stop the doubts their words bring.

The fact that he has no good comeback to throw in Seungmin’s face doesn’t help, either.

"Jisung doesn't think it's weird," is the best he can come up with, and Seungmin rolls his eyes. 

"That's because it's _Jisung_. And he’s not a witch. What does he know, anyway.”

"Probably still more than the both of us," Minho says. 

Seungmin looks out the window with a frown. He's always been a bit sensitive about not knowing enough about a world that is supposedly theirs, about having to ask questions that other practitioners think of as laughable, child's play. 

Maybe, just maybe, Minho is so reluctant to stick to the ways of the High Order for the exact same reason. 

"What are familiars even good for," Seungmin mutters, letting his head drop to the table. 

Minho tilts his head, considering, and then he finally pours the both of them some tea. Seungmin isn't really one to talk freely about his own concerns and worries, at least not with Minho, but sometimes the underlying issues shine through. 

"Are you worried because you don't have a familiar yet?" Minho asks as he sets down their cups on the table, and Seungmin raises his head just enough to glare at him.

"You don't have to be so blunt about everything, hyung," he says. Minho takes that as a yes. He chooses to focus on Seungmin’s previous question anyway, because he can be a good hyung on occasion.

“They help you channel your magic," he starts haltingly, grasping for words. "It gets amplified, but also somehow stabilized?" 

It's frustrating, how he can't really describe what it's like. So he figures he should demonstrate instead. 

"Look," he says, holding out one hand towards Seungmin's tea cup and squinting in concentration. 

Seungmin flinches back, ducking down and covering himself with his arms so suddenly that he almost falls off his chair. 

"Hyung, what the—" he yelps, but then he realizes that the chaos and mayhem he expected are not coming to pass. Very, very carefully, he lowers his arms from his face and looks down at the table in front of him, shocked beyond words. 

His silver spoon, previously set aside on the table, is now stirring the tea in jerky, but controlled movements under Minho's watchful gaze. 

"Holy shit," Seungmin whispers, because Minho hasn't even attempted this kind of small, tactile magic in months. He couldn't, because his magic was too wild, too out of control for such delicate purposes. 

Any attempt at even the most mundane household spell would inevitably end in destruction, and with Minho shaking from both exhaustion and frustration. There's a reason he's been sticking to potions lately. 

"Holy shit," Seungmin repeats, and when he looks at Minho his eyes are suspiciously shiny. 

Alarmed, Minho scoots back on his chair and lets the spoon go, splattering tea everywhere. "Don't you get emotional on me, Kim Seungmin," he says warily. 

Seungmin rolls his eyes, and the moment is gone as soon as it had threatened to appear. 

"Alright, so," Minho says, trying to get them back on track. "Control. They help with that. I've been practicing a bit."

It had taken a while before Doongie had been able to goad him into trying, and then he'd kept it secret, not even telling Jisung about it. He didn't want to give anyone false hope, least of all himself. When he'd actually managed to move a book from one end of the room to another, he'd been so shocked that he still ended up toppling an entire bookcase. So yeah, he clearly needs to catch up on years of practice, but he's getting there. 

"And knowledge. They help with that, too," Minho adds, thinking about how Dori likes to observe him from her perch on the highest shelf in the kitchen, throwing out suggestions when he gets stuck on something. 

"I don't know where they get it from, and Soonie refuses to tell me how old she is," he says, pointedly raising his voice and getting absolutely no reaction from where his familiars are pretending to be asleep, "But they've been helping me with potions and stuff."

"You could just apprentice under someone," Seungmin mutters, but it's an old argument that Minho doesn't feel like rehashing today. 

"And they're good company," Minho admits, "Even when they do the absolute most to annoy me."

Seungmin looks contemplative, absent-mindedly dragging one finger through the little puddles of tea on the table, swirling a couple drops of liquid through the air in a loop as he thinks. Minho huffs out a sigh. 

"Stop worrying. These things happen when the Fates decide it's our time," he says, though he's not sure if Seungmin will get the same sense of comfort from the words as he did, when he first heard them from Soonie. "There's nothing wrong with you just because you don't have a familiar." 

It takes another moment of silence, but then Seungmin nods to himself, just a bit. "Okay," he says quietly. 

Minho registers Soonie's approval at the back of his mind but pushes it aside, focusing instead on changing the topic to something less fraught now that Seungmin seems less anxious. 

"Why are you here, anyway?" he asks. 

"Oh," Seungmin says. "Everyone else was busy, so I decided to come bother you." 

For the rest of Seungmin's visit, they fall back into familiar, if slightly more kind than usual, bickering, and while Minho would never say it out loud, he's glad that Seungmin came over. Though that feeling only lasts until it's time for him to leave, and Seungmin calls out to Minho from where he's putting on his coat. 

“Oh, is this one new, too?” he asks, and Minho glances over to see a cream-coloured cat playing with Seungmin’s untied shoelaces.

“Who, Cheesecake?” he says, distracted. “Yeah, he just came by yesterday.”

There’s a moment of silence, and then, with horror, Minho realizes his mistake.

"His name is _Cheesecake_?" Seungmin says, gleeful. 

"Goodbye," Minho says, and bodily shoves him out of the door. 

  
  
  


5\. Mocha

"How about Hotteok?" 

"No."

"Chiffon?"

"No."

"Waffles?"

Minho glares at Jisung. The cat waits patiently. 

"Are you hungry? Is that it? I can't name all my familiars after food." 

"It's not like your ideas are any better," Jisung huffs, and Minho can feel Dori and Cheesecake laughing at him from the other room. 

"How about…Americano," Minho finishes weakly. 

Jisung's eyes light up. "Ooh, you wanna go get some?" 

There's more muffled laughter, and a pointed sigh from Soonie, who's waiting to welcome the newest member of the family if Minho would just get on with it and choose a name. 

They settle on Mocha eventually. She seems pleased enough with her new name, which is much better than Cheesecake, who still leaves Minho hairballs all over his spell books sometimes. (It’s an improvement over the spiders, but only barely.)

And with that, things seem to settle down. For a while, part of Minho still expects new familiars around every corner, but two weeks pass, and then four, and his gaggle of cats have comfortably and completely taken over his home.

Jisung adores them. Jisung also keeps trying to convince Minho that the collective noun for a group of cats is a _nuisance_ , but Minho isn’t so sure about that. 

One thing he is sure about, however, is that five additional mouths to feed, tiny as they may be, are seriously cutting into their budget. It wouldn’t be all that bad if they weren’t picky as hell, Minho thinks, adjusting the shopping bag over his shoulder as he digs for his keys, and for a moment he envies regular pet owners. They at least don’t have to listen to their cats giving detailed critiques of every single brand of food they’re presented with.

Minho startles when the door suddenly opens just as he’s about to put in the key, and then he comes face to face with Jisung, who snatches the shopping bag out of his hands right away.

“Hi babe,” he says, his voice strangely high and his eyes very wide, and he’s already running off to the study before he even finishes his sentence. “You have company! I’ll just...leave you to it!”

“Well. That’s not suspicious at all,” Minho says to no one in particular, and follows the sound of soft voices to the kitchen.

And that’s how Minho finds the High Witch having tea with his cat. 

Soonie isn't drinking tea, only Madame Sunmi is, but they're deep in conversation at the kitchen table, only looking up when he almost trips over nothing in the doorway.

"Madame Sunmi," Minho says, and his voice comes out a bit more strangled than he'd like. "It's an honour."

Minho may not hold the rules and traditions of the Order in the highest regard, but he makes sure to bow respectfully in the presence of the High Witch. He's only met her a handful of times, and she's never been anything but pleasant, but the way she looks at people is somewhat unnerving. It's an unblinking, curious gaze that makes you feel like she's cutting you open and looking straight into your soul. 

For all Minho knows, she might be. 

“Minho,” Madame Sunmi says, acknowledging him with a slight tilt of her head. “Please, join us. My apologies for intruding on your home in your absence.”

“It’s fine,” Minho hurries to say as he sits down opposite his guest, feeling intensely awkward. He tries to catch Soonie’s eye, but even though he’s mentally screaming rows upon rows of question marks at her, she just keeps ignoring him. “What brings you here? Is there anything I can help you with?”

Madame Sunmi’s eyes never leave him as she takes a sip of her tea, her long, sharp fingernails clicking against the porcelain. “Thank you,” she says, the corners of her mouth lifting in what Minho hesitates to call a smile. “But I’m here to see...Soonie, was it?”

_Yes. That is my name_. Soonie sounds strangely defensive as she says it, flicking her tail in a clear sign of annoyance.

“Of course,” Madame Sunmi demurs. “Forgive me, you know how things blur together after a few hundred years.” 

Minho barely notices how his fingernails are digging into his palms as he looks between the High Witch and his familiar, feeling utterly lost. He can’t say he appreciates them having a cryptic conversation over his head like this, but he can’t bring himself to say anything, either.

In the end, he doesn’t have to, because Madame Sunmi gives him the explanation without prompting.

"Your familiar is an old friend," she says. “Though it has been quite a while since I last saw her. I was pleased to hear you accepted her contract, Minho.”

Minho isn’t quite sure what to say to that, so he just nods, throwing another uneasy glance in Soonie’s direction. It’s strange to have his suspicions about her age confirmed like this, and stranger yet to think that she’s connected to such an influential member of the High Order. He knows she has her secrets, and he's always been fine with that, but part of him still can't help feeling betrayed. The careful absence of any mind touching his own doesn’t help. He’s not sure where the rest of his familiars are hiding, but he can’t really blame them for wanting to stay out of this, either.

“I see," Minho says, even though he doesn't, really. 

Madame Sunmi gives him another not-quite-smile, but then something in her gaze _shifts_ , and Minho finds himself frozen in place, unable to break eye contact even if he wanted to. It doesn’t last longer than a handful of seconds, but it feels like a lifetime, and when the tension breaks Minho almost keels over, gasping in heavy breaths like a man drowning. 

Head between his knees, he barely registers the murmured apologies and angry hissing across the table. He’s still blinking tears out of his eyes when Soonie jumps on his back and noses at his ear, the familiar weight across his shoulders calming enough that he can steady himself and sit back up.

“What did you do?” Minho asks, and he would be furious if he wasn’t still so shaken. He manages a weak glare, all politeness forgotten, but the High Witch just continues to sip her tea, unfazed.

“You have my apologies,” she says. “I know it’s not the most pleasant experience, especially for one as young as you. With age and experience, other people’s magic interacting with your own becomes less jarring.”

Minho can’t quite tell, but he thinks he’s being condescended to. Instead of waiting for Madame Sunmi to get to the point, he turns his head to the side just a bit to try and catch Soonie’s eyes. She sighs and jumps back down to the table, and Minho instantly misses her warmth against his skin, but at least this way he can look at her head on.

_She was scanning your magic_ , Soonie says, the irritation in her voice underscored by her body language. _Checking for irregularities, which I told her was unnecessary._

“Due caution must be exercised in cases such as this,” Madame Sunmi counters, setting down the tea cup without a sound. “Your word alone would not be enough to satisfy the Council, my friend.”

She turns back to Minho then, finally deigning to explain. “You must be aware that this is quite an unusual arrangement, yes?”

Minho hesitates. “My familiars?” he guesses, and Madame Sunmi nods just slightly.

“Yes. It lies within the responsibilities of the High Council to keep record of the contracts its subjects make, and for one person to enter this many contracts over a very short period of time has raised some concerns.”

Minho swallows, his throat suddenly dry, but before he can even think to say anything, Madame Sunmi continues.

“However, now that I have been able to judge for myself, I can lay those fears to rest. The contracts pose no danger to you or your familiars, Minho.”

It’s like the weight of a mountain falls off Minho’s shoulders at that very moment, and he inhales shakily. He’s been trying not to worry about this, he really has been, but hearing it from the High Witch herself is still a relief.

_Told you_ , Soonie sniffs, but Madame Sunmi ignores her.

“In fact,” she says pointedly, “It would appear that your familiars have managed to take care of a much more vexing problem. You were aware that your magic was unusually wild, were you not?”

Minho nods, grimacing. How could he not have been? Madame Sunmi hums knowingly, and for a very brief moment Minho thinks he can actually see something like compassion in her eyes. It’s gone just as quickly however, so he probably just imagined it. 

“There were...differences in opinion on how to best deal with your situation. I admit this is not a solution I had considered, but it seems to be working well for all of you. Though perhaps five is enough, no?" she adds with a sly look at Soonie, who seems somewhat chastised. 

Minho is still trying to work through that statement when Madame Sunmi pushes back her chair and stands in one smooth movement.

“Well then, I think it’s time for me to bid you good-bye. I’ve imposed on you for long enough, don’t you think? Thank you for the tea, it was lovely.”

“You’re— you’re welcome,” Minho stutters out, jumping to his feet in an instant, and his mind is still reeling while he shows her out, leaving him standing in the open doorway long after she’s disappeared from view, staring at nothing,

“What the fuck,” he breathes out at last, and forces himself to close the door.

His heart is beating wildly in his chest as he comes out of his daze, and he stumbles into the living room, collapsing into his favourite armchair as his legs give out under him. He closes his eyes and allows himself a moment to just breathe in the quiet, in and out, until his pulse finally starts to calm down.

He can feel Soonie looking at him, can feel the steady presence of her next to his mind, already so familiar despite the honestly rather short time they’ve known each other. She’s giving him time to work through this at his own pace, he realizes, and he bites his lip as he sorts through all the questions he wants to ask. 

"Did she make you become my familiar?" is the one he settles on in the end, and he hates how small his voice sounds. 

His eyes snap open when Soonie jumps up on his lap, the tip of her tail tickling Minho's nose and making him huff in annoyance. 

_No one makes me do anything_ , Soonie says, rubbing her face against Minho's chest. _You should know that by now._

"Yes, how could I forget," Minho says. It comes out a bit snappish, and Soonie clearly notices it — her gaze on him intent and unwavering, her mind projecting a distinct lack of amusement. 

_Don't presume to think of this as a one-sided relationship, or a mere transactional matter, just because we formed a contract._

"That's not what I…" Minho trails off awkwardly. He doesn't want to offend her, but he can't help the undercurrent of doubt that runs through him. 

_Do not insult me by doubting my commitment to you,_ she says, and then her tone grows considerably softer. _I am here, with you, because I want to be._

It’s not quite enough to soothe the worries on Minho’s mind, but he feels chastened, and the first tendrils of something like relief find their way through the cracks, like weeds in concrete. Still, there's something else he needs to know. 

"What about the others?"

Soonie doesn't shrug, because she's a cat, but she stretches and arches her back as she settles on his lap. 

_You have space in your heart and your home for more than just me, and magic to spare. Who am I to keep you to myself?_

Still, Minho hesitates. "But tradition—" 

_Traditions are traditions, and some of them exist for good reason_ , she interrupts him. _To keep you from blowing up your kitchen, for example._

"Hey," he protests weakly. 

_But some of them are worth reconsidering every couple hundred years, don't you think?_

Minho bites his lip and doesn’t say anything, but Soonie can tell he isn’t convinced. She sighs and turns over a bit so she can fix him with her signature unimpressed stare.

_Were you not listening earlier? If the High Witch herself has no objections, then there’s no need to keep agonizing about this. And stop being so self-centered. Have you ever considered that I did not call them for your sake, but their own?_

And Minho realizes that, no. He truly never did. Maybe it’s human instinct, to always think of yourself as the center of everything, even if you’re aware of forces much greater and more powerful than yourself. 

He feels something like guilt for binding five spirits to his soul, but it’s based more on a fear of being judged by other people, he thinks. He knows that his familiars are autonomous beings that can think and make decisions for themselves, but in all his agonizing he's never actually asked them for their opinion.

From the direction of the study, he can hear the muffled sounds of Jisung playing with Dori, Cheesecake and Mocha. Through the connection they share he can feel just the barest hint of their joy and excitement, and Doongie's amusement at their antics.

_You humans like to keep your people close, and so do we. In this regard, at least, we're not that different_ , Soonie says, closing her eyes.

Something within him settles then, just a bit, and he reaches out a tentative hand to pet the long line of Soonie's back, carding his fingers through soft fur until she melts into it, completely relaxed. 

There's more questions running through his mind, and part of him still needs more reassurance, but for now, this is enough. 

Except for one tiny thing. 

"So you admit you were the one who called them here," Minho says, smug. 

Soonie's ears twitch. _I admit nothing at all._

Minho is absolutely going to keep pushing this, but before he can say anything else, there's a loud crash that makes both of them jump, followed first by a feline shriek and then a very suspicious silence. 

They look at each other, wide-eyed. 

"We're okay!" Jisung yells from the other room, somewhat undermined by the sound of Mocha's hissing. 

Minho raises his eyebrows and nods at the door to the study. Soonie flattens her ears to her head. 

_You go deal with them_. _They're no concern of mine._

"You literally just called them 'your people'," Minho points out. 

_Did not_ , Soonie says, very dignified. _They're_ your _familiars and_ your _Jisung._

They stare at each other with narrowed eyes for a few more seconds until Minho sinks back in his armchair, drawing Soonie closer on his lap. 

"We'll give them five minutes before we check on them," he decides. "They should be able to survive that long."

_Let's hope for the best_ , Soonie agrees, curling in on herself. 

And when, after a moment, Minho whispers a barely audible, "Thank you," into the quiet, cozy atmosphere that surrounds them, she just blinks at him, very slowly, and starts to purr. 

  
  
  
  


The end

**Author's Note:**

> What this was supposed to be: a less than 4k gen fic about various witches coming to Minho's place for tea and being like, uh, why do keep getting more and more familiars? And then Minho just being like, I do what I want.
> 
> What happened instead: 2500 additional words, a lot of accidental world building, and also Han Jisung. (At one point I literally just wrote down 'MINHO HAS A CAT NAMED CHEESECAKE BC JISUNG LIKES CHEESECAKE')
> 
> Also I was unsuccessful in finding out Minho's cats' actual genders, but hey, this is an AU anyway. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! <3


End file.
